


It's possible

by quietkerfluffle (giraffeminion)



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied Johnlock, John is pissed, M/M, Mystrade Monday, Sherlock has disappeared, mystrade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffeminion/pseuds/quietkerfluffle
Summary: Sherlock has disappeared, and John is pissed. He takes it out on the nearest outlets: in this case, unfortunate Mycroft and sympathetic Lestrade.Mystrade Monday prompt: "We'll figure this out."
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	It's possible

Sherlock was gone, and John was furious. Snarling in Mycroft’s face, his face flushed redder and redder, the kind of angry you get when you can’t or won't admit that you’re scared. Scared and hurt.

“Where _is_ he?!”

“I don’t know, Dr Watson.”

Not a lie, Lestrade noted. But not the whole truth. He watched Mycroft glance down at his umbrella and twirl it lazily. He wondered if anyone else could see Mycroft’s tells.

Shoulders a fraction high, crunched toward the ears. _Tense._

Fingers toying with umbrella to hide trembling. _Uncomfortable._

Bored expression, improper given the context. _Hiding something, or uneasy._   
In this case, both.

Mycroft’s eye roll, prompted by John stabbing a finger to his chest, landed on Lestrade. Ah, yes. The plea for assistance.

“John,” Lestrade stepped in to grab him by the shoulder, but John shrugged him off and spun around, teeth bared.

“Oh no, don’t you start,” John snapped. “He’s Mycroft-bloody-Holmes and if anyone can figure out where Sherlock is, it bloody well would be him!”

“Tell me when you saw him last.”

And John was off, gesticulating wildly, talking about weeks of odd hours and strange hints and bad smells and for-god’s-sake-the-tea-kettle-is-nothing-sacred??? Lestrade let him talk, let him blow off the steam that he’d built worriedly pacing the flat until he’d finally blown. Lestrade nodded, frowned, gripped John’s shoulder and made noises in all the right places, winding him down until he was slumped on the sofa, head in his hands. 

“We’ll figure this out,” he told John, and met Mycroft’s eyes.

In the car, Mycroft stared straight ahead, hands gripping his umbrella handle. 

“You could know where he is, but you’re choosing not to,” Lestrade said quietly.

Mycroft said nothing, rolled the handle between his hands. Lestrade reached across, laying two fingers softly on his jaw where the soft skin of his ear met his jawbone. Mycroft started, but Lestrade took a slow, deep breath in through his nostrils, and exhaled out his mouth. Mycroft copied him, and the muscle beneath his fingertips unclenched. He sighed, the back of his head hitting the headrest with a small whumph. 

“It’s the right thing, you hear? You can’t save Sherlock from himself forever, especially with this.” 

Mycroft looked pained. 

“You can’t,” Lestrade said again. “If Sherlock wants John, wants to keep John, he’s gotta figure this out on his own. Yes!” he laughed in response to Mycroft’s skeptical huff. 

“Sherlock lo-, cares for John,” Mycroft began, but Lestrade cut him off.

“Sherlock loves John.” No reason to beat around the bush. “But he’s gotta figure out how to show it and not bugger off when it gets hard. He has to figure out how to compromise, make allowances, and, ya know, communicate his feelings.” 

Mycroft arched an eyebrow at that, but Lestrade only smiled. 

“It’s possible,” he said, reaching across again to peel Mycroft’s fingers from his umbrella and lace them with his own. Mycroft squeezed his fingers.

“They’ll figure it out.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've read so many fics with meddling!Mycroft that I wanted to indulge some healthy boundary setting, most likely influenced by our good friend Gregory Lestrade.


End file.
